Darling Brew, the ground-breaking craft brewery situated in the small town of Darling on the Cape West Coast, has won two gold awards and a trophy at the 2016 South African Beer Trophy awards, which took place on Thursday 22 September at the Beerhouse in Cape Town.
Gypsy Mask walked away with a gold award for being the top achieving beer in the Amber category, whilst Longclaw won gold in the Speciality category. Longclaw also won a trophy for being the highest scoring beer in its category overall.
Inspired by the Roan Antelope, Gypsy Mask is a rusty brown ale with a range of spicy flavours, whilst Longclaw, a speciality beer inspired by the lion, is a single hop saison which was produced in collaboration with Eduardo Petry of Sunset Brew in Brazil. Longclaw puts a modern twist on a classic style with the use of citra hops – resulting in fruity esters and tropical fruit aromas.
About the awards
The National Beer Trophy awards attract the most innovative craft brewers from across the country, with the aim being to offer a fair, independent and reliable appraisal of the growing local independent brewing industry – providing recognition to the emerging brewers.
To ensure the highest standards, The National Beer Trophy awards are approved by an international body of accrediting judges, who offer an international endorsement of the results, in addition to providing a full audit of the markings.
The judging panel comprises some of the most respected members of the beer industry, who select the winners within each category through blind tastings.
“We are extremely pleased to have achieved these top results in what is the only independent beer awards in South Africa” says Philippa and Kevin Wood, owners of Darling Brew.
Carefully considered beer
“We started Darling Brew in 2010 with our signature beer, called SLOW Beer. This special beer embodies the Darling Brew slogan “Slow Beer” – which was developed to represent the slower paced lifestyle of the area by harnessing an unhurried fermentation process.”
“Now, with awards such as these achieved by our beers Gypsy Mask and Longclaw, we are reaping the rewards of our carefully considered approach to brewing beer,” says Kevin Wood. “This approach is adopted across the board at Darling Brew and we have a firm commitment to protecting the environment through all our processes.”
In fact, Darling Brew recently launched Blood Serpent, the first carbon neutral beer on the African continent. Blood Serpent’s carbon neutral status was achieved through innovative brewing, packaging and offsetting processes. “The carbon emissions created by the fuel, water and energy consumption during brewing, as well as the glass, labels and packaging during production, are thus offset with each new batch of Blood Serpent.”
The new Darling Brew Tasteroom and Brewery is situated at 48 Caledon Street in Darling. They are open from Tuesday to Sunday and during school holidays from Monday to Sunday. Bookings are highly recommended.